"Mother, will Shu be fooled?" Eldest Madam Yu was still worried.”
"No!" Madam Ji was full of confidence." If I'm not wrong, Little Shu will only show up when she sees our people with her own eyes! Since it's almost the same, I'll write a letter to Ping Ping and let the two children relax…"
Xu Changqing's eyes lit up. Father, mother, why don't you let me go to the Nian Yin Mountain after we pass?”
Old Master Xu nodded his head and leaned back on the recliner. He even turned his body sideways and pulled the blanket from the armrest to cover his legs. He was old and could not resist the cold!
Madam Ji didn't say anything either. She picked up her teacup and threw a glance at her eldest son.
Young Master Xu immediately understood. He frowned and cleared his throat. His calm voice was filled with an unquestionable decision." After the New Year, Second Brother will personally make a trip to Yin Mountain. Third Brother will still be responsible for taking care of the servant girl. In addition, I'm afraid your sister-in-law has to take care of Changping Trading Company's matters. When the big shopkeepers who came to report the accounts arrive, you will have to follow me to meet them…"
Second Young Master Xu nodded.
Xu Changqing touched his nose.”
The eldest nephew and the second nephew, who had been sitting at the bottom without saying a word the entire time, let out a chuckle at the same time.
After several days of heavy fog and cold, the first snow of this winter finally fell. It fell on the night of the completion of the school in King Village. At this time, all the people in Yang Ping's family had moved to their new residence.
Feng Nianen found two teachers.
One of them was surnamed Li, in his forties, limping. He had a high rank in the imperial examination. He came with his wife and a three or four-year-old grandson. It was said that his leg was broken when he fell off a cliff in heavy rain on the way to the capital to take the examination. He lost his qualification to be an official in the imperial examination. After two years, he returned to his hometown to be a teacher. He married and had children. His life was peaceful. Who knew that the world was so unpredictable? A cold took his son's life. His daughter-in-law was depressed and lingering in bed for a year. She also passed away, leaving behind a young son who was less than two years old to rely on his grandparents. In order to treat their son and daughter-in-law, Scholar Li and his wife had emptied their family's assets and owed a lot of foreign debts. Now that they had been recommended by a friend to teach in King Village, Scholar Li had sold his house to pay off the loan. It was quite a bit of a desperate situation.
The other was also surnamed Li and was about twenty-five years old. He had just obtained the title of scholar two years ago and married a wife named Qi. Qi was not in good health and had no children. Due to the lack of food at home, she gave up the road of fame and came here to teach.
From then on, Old Master Li and Young Master Li had taken root in King Village. The small courtyard of Yang Ping's house was vacated for the two families to live in. Fortunately, the two families did not have many people. One family had a central room and one side room. As Aunt Wang said, both families were surnamed Li, so they could take care of each other.
Madam Qi was a gentle and weak woman. She was wearing a plain green cotton crepe dress, which made her face look weak and frail. At this moment, she was busy in the kitchen of the small courtyard with Mrs. Li.
Although the two families had just arrived, Uncle Wang had already prepared enough rice, flour, grain, oil, radish, and cabbage. In the morning, Aunt Wang even sent them a piece of pork weighing five catties, two dried pheasants, a basket of eggs, and a bundle of fine powder. With these food as the foundation, it was enough for the two families to eat for more than ten days without going to the town to buy.
Looking at the pile of items on the table and thinking of her grandson's thin body, Mrs. Li's eyes couldn't help but sting. She ruthlessly scooped a ladle of noodles from the urn and added water to make a tough dough, intending to make sliced noodles.
When she turned around, she saw Madam Qi standing behind the stove and stirring the egg soup in the big pot with a spoon. Her pale face was reflected in the rising fog, making her look very pale. Mrs. Li sighed in her heart. She wanted to ask a few questions, but she opened her mouth but did not make a sound. Sigh-it was difficult for any family. Fortunately, there was such an opportunity now. Mrs. Li only hoped that she and her husband could watch their little grandson grow up and marry and have children.
Just as the fire in the stove was extinguished, Aunt Wang's clear and crisp voice came from outside,"Is Mrs. Li in the kitchen? Sister Quinn is here too?"
The two of them quickly put down their work when they heard the sound. They saw Aunt Wang and a tall woman wearing a red brocade cloak walk in. Aunt Wang carried a basket with a large bowl of steaming hot stewed mutton in it, and Kim carried two plain bags.
The two of them quickly went up to welcome her into the house. Aunt Wang and Jin Shiju waved their hands readily."Is the meal ready? I'll send a bowl of the stewed mutton over. It's snowing just now, so let's drink a few mouthfuls each to get rid of the cold…This is Madam Feng…"
Mrs. Li and Madam Qi hurriedly greeted her. They thought to themselves that this was the wife of Mr. Feng, who had brought their families here. They were touched and at the same time, they could not help but feel a little afraid. Madam Qi was especially obvious. Her fingertips could not help but tremble a little when she took the bag. She only calmed down after Jin patted the back of her hand a few times.
"Elder Sister and Little Sister Qi, don't stand on ceremony. My maiden name is Jin. In the future, we'll just address each other as sisters. When the weather gets cold, Eldest Sister-in-law and I will send a few pieces of cloth over. Seeing that you're so clever, let's make the two Mr. Li's cotton-padded coats together.”，Kim then turned to look at Aunt Wang."Sister-in-law sent the cotton wool over earlier?”
"Yes, it's with the cotton sheets. Did Sister Li and Sister Quinn see it? There are also two bright ones here. I'll make a set for myself and the child. The child's cotton should be thick. It will still grow in the mountains when it's cold in the future!”
Mrs. Li and Mrs. Qi thanked her profusely. Then, Mrs. Jin continued,"I see that Sister Qi's body is thin. There's a piece of my clothes here that I haven't worn before. If Sister doesn't mind, you can put it on to block the wind first.”
Mrs. Li had been the wife of the High Scholar for so many years, and she had seen things more clearly and experienced. From the depressed look of Mrs. Qi, it was obvious that it was not only a problem of her weak body, but also related to her children. Just now in the kitchen, she wanted to comfort her, but now she added a few words to Mrs. Jin's words,"That's right. You're still young. Taking care of your body is more important than anything else. After you eat well, wear warm clothes, and grab a few doses of medicine to adjust your body.”
Aunt Wang naturally knew that she was implying something and nodded in agreement. She quickly changed the topic and said,"The two of you followed Li Zheng to decorate the school. You should be back by now. Mrs. Li, pack up and prepare for dinner. We'll have dinner together during the winter solstice the day after tomorrow to welcome you and get to know everyone!”
Madam Qi's eyes reddened as she gently stroked the gray rat fur collar on the silver-red satin cloak. She felt the warm touch coming from her fingertips to the soles of her feet. Tears could not stop falling, and small flowers appeared on her clothes.
When people said " poor scholar, poor scholar ", how was the word " poor " written? Madam Qi had a deep feeling. Studying was a costly business. Thinking about how her husband had spent more than ten years to study hard before he was able to become a child, what could she do?
Before they got married, they had to rely on their parents-in-law, brother, and sister-in-law to work day and night to earn more than 20 mu of land. In order not to burden brother and sister-in-law, her husband had taken the initiative to separate the family after being married for less than half a year. The young couple had practically left the family with nothing. They said that they were literate at least. If they stopped studying, they could find a job in an accountant's shop in the county town to support a small family. No matter how much the parents-in-law could not bear it, they could not watch their grandchildren be implicated and not have enough to eat, right?
She could not bear it, so she sold a few dowries and exchanged some money for embroidery work to send her husband back to the Academy. During that period of time, Madam Qi did not know how she endured it. When her husband was not at home, she ate boiled vegetables twice a day. She ate so much that she would vomit acid when she slept at night. She did not dare to get sick. If she got sick, she would endure it. If she could not endure it, she would go to the field to find some herbs…But her body was bad after all. She had not gotten pregnant after six years of marriage.
Fortunately, the heavens had eyes. Her husband had passed the scholar examination and found a rich family to study in. It was possible to support the two of them, but it was impossible to continue the examination. Until now, hugging the big clothes in her arms, the hot touch spread throughout her body. Madam Qi finally found herself.
That night, the husband and wife hugged each other.
Young Master Li put his arm around his wife's thin shoulders and murmured,""Sujuan…I met a lot of people today. They're all kind and righteous people. I'll work hard. There's a workshop in the village. I can do odd jobs when the school is on vacation. When I save money, I'll take you to the county clinic to recuperate.”
Madam Qi leaned her thin body into her husband's embrace, allowing hot tears to flow down her cheeks.
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。